"..." Galan immediately went silent... The Darkness talismans, he knows those talismans very well, If he had to choose between the same amount of Fire Explosion or Darkness talismans, he would surely choose the Darkness talismans!
they are extremely important in the battles of knights, and if the knights were empowered... the battle is as good as won.
But Galan did not reply directly but remained silent for a few seconds before speaking, "... Alright, you can take a third of their land, and I will take Edward when the war begins to lead my armies and then I will send him back to you after the war is over."
"Argh, why are you so stingy?... a third of the lands of the Rufus family, in addition to the former lands of Baron Camden family."
"Baron Camden? Hmmm Alright." Galan nodded,
Camden's family have mostly perished 6 years ago under the hands of Marquess Rufus, but their lands were taken back and right now it still belongs to the Kingdom of Lying Water, in addition to that, it's not large in any way and is right next to Rufus' Marcuse so he won't actually lose much by giving it up...
He also knows that Robin made this request mostly because of his adopted son... Peon Camden.
Robin stood up smilingly and extended his hand to Galan to shake his...
A third of the lands of the Rufus family means about 15% of the Duchy of Bradley. This area is much smaller than the new lands that joined the Burton family recently, but it is a few times larger than the area of the old Earldom of the Burtons!
Galan met him resentfully first but eventually shook his hand as well, announcing the seal of the deal.
"Hahaha, excellent, this how gentlemen do their business! glad everything is settled." Duke Raymond laughed out loud
When Robin heard this, he looked at Duke Raymond with the side of his eyes and chuckled maliciously, sending a cold tremor down Raymond's spine.
Raymond actually.. felt a little threatened.
He stopped his laughter halfway and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?!"
Galan chuckled when he saw Raymond's reaction, at last something got him out of his sour mood
Robin returned to his seat and replied to Raymond, "Your Highness, it's not fair to let my father-in-law pay the full price while you laugh at the side and watch, right? He doesn't even need to pay anything since he has a method for making the fire explosion talismans and gets many categorized weapons on him monthly, he can attack that duchy next to him and rip a large chunk out of it..
but he is now stuck with you and he had to pay because of you... how can this happen while you are the one who will benefit from this deal in the first place?"
".... what do you want?" asked Raymond with a heavy heart, this guy just stole a fat piece of land from his own father-in-law, what would he do to him?
"As you know, The new lands that we have taken from Dolivar are separated from the ancestral lands of the Burton family, which causes us great headache... And now that I have agreed with Duke Galan, we will have a great piece of land also separated from us, you do not think that the Burtons should become three scattered Pieces of land...right?" Robin spoke with a strange smile as if he was hinting at something
"AHAHAHAHAHA... HEHEHAAAAHAHA, yeah Raymond, do your business like a gentleman HAAAAHAHAHA" Galan laughed out loud and kept patting Raymond's back
Raymond himself sighed and put his hand on his forehead.
Robin's words are very clear, that he wants to connect the old lands of the Burton family with the lands he will take from the Duchy of Bradley.. and to do this he must take the lands that lie between the two, vast lands under the control of the Duchy of Alton!
"I will speak to the nobles to give you a safe passage between the two lands." Raymond resented
Robin shook his head, "That won't work, listen... between Jura and the Duchy of Bradley there are several nobles that controls different lands, any one of them can link us with the Bradleys
one of them is what I want... the lands of Marquess Tawi, he is the one who attacked us 15 years ago and did what he did to the Burtons... the time for revenge has come for one, why not the other."
Raymond took a moment to think about it and comprehend the extent of the destruction that would happen to the lands after five years... then he nodded, "Sight~ It's Alright, if the lands are with you or with him, you all belong to the Duchy of Alton, do whatever you like."
Robin shook his head, "No nooo your highness, After I get this vast territory, how can I remain under another family? We will be the 10th Duchy of the Black Sun Kingdom after this war."
"ROBIN!!" Duke Raymond stood up and shouted angrily, " your Earldom has always been under The Altons' role for thousands of years, you want to take it and even take the lands of the Tawi family then become independent? This is too much, even for a greedy bastard like you!"
Robin looked up at the Duke calmly, "Did you think we'd belong to the Altons forever? You're a smart man with lots of experience, aren't you? you have definitely already thought it through... Someday, sooner or later, we will have our independence... it is only a matter of time and a matter of whether it will be done with your permission or against it...
I don't want to do it without your permission, my Duke... Today is a good day and we can come up with a solution that satisfies everyone, just tell me what you want?"
Raymond sat down again after a few seconds and fell into deep thought, of course, he knew he would face this situation one day, the crazy bastards who attacked Doliva with 30 thousand soldiers AND WON, will not be subjected forever...
but just he didn't think he would face this situation too soon!
After about ten minutes, he finally replied, "Increase the amount of Fire Explosion Talismans that you will deliver to us before the war to 60,000,
and you must continue to support my army in all possible ways during the war until it stops completely and after I get at least double of the lands you want to take from me...
I also want a method for making Fire Explosion Talismans and you must hand it over today, I also want to buy a permanent share of 10% of your factories' production after the war like the Bradleys and the Royal Family, and a permanent priority to buy anything you make like the two families,
in addition to a non-aggression pact and a mutual defense pact between our two families that will remain in place for one hundred years. "
"DO YOU WANT MY UNDERWEAR TOO?!" Robin shouted
"YOU FVCKING WANT HALF MY LANDS!! kid, These are my terms and I will not back down from one of them," Raymond announced
Robin's face appeared troubled, he thought the Duke would haggle with him over the size of the land he can take.. but this Raymond is really a snake in human flesh...
the fire explosion talisman is becoming more *popular* than ever, if he give it to him then it wouldn't be something exclusive any more actually.. the 10% of the factories' production is also not a small amount...
Also, the issue of joint defense would be a restriction for him and in the future, it might do more harm than good, if one day there was an attack on the Altons he will have to defend them!?
and guarantying that they would win double the lands they lost... huge pressure, to say the least, the 60,000 talismans became a mere joke now, he would have to fund many more if needed to make sure the Duke goes far.... that guy!
But come to think of it, the area of the Old Earldom of Burton and the lands of the Tawi family together really make up about half of the Duchy of Alton, this and not even including the new lands he took from Dolivar and are now counted within the Duchy of Alton... and all of this is not something that can be sold cheaply.
However, all these lands and the new Duke title are on one side, and the Burton family members rejoicing when they get their revenge from the Marquess Tawi is on the other side, he knows very well how much they hate him...
At last, Robin sighed, stood up, and extended his hand to Duke Raymond, "I Accept."